Small markets left without milk supplies; Tax authorities clarify how invoicing will work

Since Monday, following the start of an operation by the tax authorities, many small markets in Tirana have seen their supply of fresh milk from farmers interrupted.

According to an observation by Monitor, the situation is similar in many neighborhoods of the capital, including Astir, Fresku, and the 5 Maji area.

Retailers contacted confirmed they are unclear on how to proceed with issuing invoices.

Though they are supplied with significant quantities of fresh milk directly from farmers in rural areas of Tirana, they do not know how to formalize this process for invoicing.

The farmers, for their part, stated that they are equipped with NIPT (Tax Identification Number), but despite this, their milk has been refused by small retail units for the past three days.

The General Directorate of Taxes (DPT) clarified for Monitor that, according to Instruction No. 16, dated 03.04.2020, “On the invoice and the turnover monitoring system,” as amended, all retail units without exception that purchase goods from agricultural or livestock producers must issue a fiscal invoice in the form of self-invoicing.

The invoicing scheme for goods purchased directly from farmers—whether by a neighborhood market, bar, restaurant, or large supermarket—is the same as in cases where goods are traded to processors or large collectors.

“So, if a business—whether a neighborhood market, bar, restaurant, or any other unit—does not purchase agricultural or livestock products from a licensed collector or processor, but directly from a farmer, the obligation to issue a self-invoice lies with the buyer. In this case, the buyer uploads the self-invoice to the system using the seller’s information,” explained the DPT.

The self-invoice must also be signed by the seller—in this case, the farmer—in order to ensure traceability of the goods for food safety purposes.

Thus, the neighborhood market, which in this context acts as a small collector of the farmer’s fresh milk, regardless of whether the farmer has a NIPT or not, may issue a self-invoice for the purchased goods.

In cases where the farmer does not have an agricultural NIPT, the tax authorities clarify that, for the purpose of product traceability, it is sufficient to record the name of the individual who sold the product and have the self-invoice signed by the seller.

The farmer, whether equipped with a NIPT or not, has the right to sell their livestock products to small food shops. However, the responsibility for issuing the fiscal invoice lies with the buyer.

The same invoicing scheme applies if the farmer delivers the milk to collection or processing points—the buyer, such as the licensed processor or collector, is responsible for issuing the self-invoice via the SelfCare system.

In recent days, the tax authorities have launched an operation to inspect the trade of agricultural products.

The Tax Administration emphasizes again that the focus of the operation is to strengthen field controls over the issuance of self-invoices for the trade of livestock products, at major agricultural markets, slaughterhouses, dairies, and then larger collectors and processors.

They confirmed that small and street vendors are not the focus of this campaign. Through this operation, the tax authorities aim to increase revenue and strengthen the traceability system for goods.

“KORÇA BOOM”